Apparatus and method for providing travel route in navigation system

• US 8,423,281 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2004
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Oh, Hwan Saeng
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kiswanto, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US10/859,980
• Publication Number:
  US 20040249569A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,238 Days
• Field of Search: 701/209, 701/201, 701/202, 701/208, 340/995.19, 340/995.23, 340/995.13
• US Class Current: 701/400
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance

Abstract

An apparatus and method provide a travel route in a navigation system. The apparatus includes: a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver for receiving position data from a plurality of GPS satellites; a storage unit for storing map data and the travel route therein; a display unit for displaying the stored map data and travel route on a screen; a key input unit for receiving a variety of input key signals, and an origin and a destination therebetween; a velocity and direction detection unit for detecting a travel velocity and direction of travel of a moving object; a wireless communication unit for communicating to receive traffic information on an on-road; and a control unit for controlling each unit to store the travel route in the storage unit and to provide the stored travel route for a user.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing a travel route in a navigation system, the apparatus comprising:

a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver configured to receive position data from a plurality of GPS satellites;

a storage unit configured to store map data and travel route information including a plurality of travel routes therein;

a display unit configured to display the stored map data and travel route on a screen thereof;

a key input unit configured to receive a variety of input key signals, and an origin and a destination therebetween;

a velocity and direction detection unit configured to detect a travel velocity and direction of a moving object;

a wireless communication unit configured to detect to receive traffic information with respect to an on-road;

a control unit configured to control storage of the travel route in the storage unit and to provide the stored travel route for a user for (1) determining whether or not a user inputs to the navigation an origin and a destination of a travel route for guidance of a moving object and (2) if it is determined that the navigation system is not in an input mode when a user inputs the origin and the destination, determining whether or not the navigation system is in a search mode wherein the user searches for a desired travel route, and (3) if it is determined that the navigation system is in a search mode, searching and selecting a desired travel route through a user activated hot key to display a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node;

a user activated hot key configured to (1) store a travel route having at least one of an origin node or a destination node, and (2) request a desired travel route; and

a display unit configured to display the at least one of stored map data, travel route data and hot key data on a screen thereof.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the travel route is matched to each destination to be stored in the storage unit.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the travel route is grouped and stored with reference to the origin or the destination.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the moving object arrives at the destination along a current travel route, the control unit inquires of a user whether or not the current travel route would be stored, and then to store the current travel route in a predetermined area of the storage unit.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the user inputs the origin and the destination, the control unit compares the received origin and destination with the stored travel route and then provides the stored travel route corresponding to the received origin and destination.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored travel route comprises the origin, a via, the destination, the traveling route, the hot key, and time information for guidance of the moving object.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored travel route comprises an origin node, a destination node and a via node.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user activated hot key is configured to (1) store the travel route having at least one of an origin node or a destination node, and (2) request the stored travel route using the hot key being used for storing the travel route.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of hot keys for storing a plurality of travel routes, each having at least one of an origin node or a destination node, and means for displaying at least one of an origin node or a destination node and a hot key.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of hot keys corresponds to travel routes having the same origin node.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the destination node of a travel route stored by using a hot key is displayed with the hot key.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of hot keys for storing a plurality of travel routes, each having at least one of an origin node and a destination node, and wherein, if a plurality of hot keys have the same origin node, different destination nodes are displayed together with the plurality of hot keys.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user activated hot key is configured to store one travel route and to request a corresponding travel route.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising plural hot keys, and wherein the plurality of travel routes are matched, respectively, to the plurality of hot keys.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means configured to classify user activated hot keys with a group of travel routes.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the group of travel routes comprises at least two different travel routes.

17. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means to input traffic information of road conditions with respect to a road on which a vehicle can travel, including at least one of traffic stagnation, traffic retardation, slow traffic movement, traffic accidents, and roads under-construction.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising means configured to transmit the selected traffic information, a moving object travel velocity, and a current location of the moving object, to be transmitted with a message to a traffic information center.

19. A method of providing a travel route in a navigation system, comprising:

(a) receiving an origin and a destination;

(b) determining whether or not a travel route corresponding to the received origin and destination is identical with a travel route stored in a storage unit;

(b-1) if it is determined that the corresponding travel route is identical with the stored travel route, reading the stored travel route from the storage unit to display the stored travel route on a screen; and

(b-2) if the corresponding travel route is not identical with the stored traveling route, reading the corresponding travel route from map data of the storage unit to display the read travel route on a screen, or/and downloading the corresponding travel route from a traffic information center to display the downloaded travel route on a screen;

(c) determining whether or not the moving object arrives at the received destination;

(c-1) if it is determined that the moving object arrives at the received destination, inquiring of a user whether or not a current travel route would be stored; and

(c-2) if the user elects to store the current travel route, storing the current travel route and its relation information, wherein the relation information comprises at least two of the origin, the destination, a hot key, and time;

(d) using a of user activated hot keys to (1) store a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node; and

(2) request a desired travel route using the same hot key utilized to store the travel route;

(e) displaying stored map data, travel route data and hot key stored travel routes on a screen thereof; and

(f) controlling storage of the travel route in the storage unit and providing the stored travel route for a user for

(1) determining whether or not a user inputs to the navigation an origin and a destination of a travel route for guidance of a moving object,

(2) if it is determined that the navigation system is not in an input mode when a user inputs the origin and the destination, determining whether or not the navigation system is in a search mode wherein the user searches for a desired travel route, and

(3) if it is determined that the navigation system is in a search mode, searching and selecting a desired travel route through a user activated hot key to display a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the stored travel route comprises an origin node, a destination node and a via node.

21. A method for providing a travel route in a navigation system, the method comprising:

(a) determining whether or not a user inputs to the navigation system an origin and a destination of a travel route for guidance of a moving object;

(a-1) if it is determined that the navigation system is not in an input mode where the user inputs the origin and the destination, determining whether or not the navigation system is in a search mode where the user searches for a desired travel route;

(a-2) if it is determined that the navigation system is in the search mode, searching and selecting the desired travel route through a user activated hot key to display a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node; and

(a-3) displaying the selected traveling route on the screen to guide the moving object along the displayed travel route;

(b) if it is determined that the user inputs the origin and the destination, recognizing a current position and a travel direction of the moving object on the basis of a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal to track the moving object along a travel trace, and searching for an optimal travel route from the origin to the destination;

(c) displaying an optimal travel route on a screen to guide the moving object along the optimal travel route;

(d) determining whether or not the moving object arrives at the destination and then, if it is determined that the moving object arrives at the destination, inquiring of the user whether or not a current travel route would be stored; and

(e) if the user selects to store the current travel route, storing the current travel route in a predetermined area of a storage unit.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein, in the step (b), the optimal travel route is selected among a travel route received from a traffic information center using a wireless communication network and a travel route searched from map data of the storage unit.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein, in the step (a-2), a search screen for the travel route is provided for the user to see the origin and the destination of the travel route and select the desired travel route.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein in the step (a-2), the search screen for the travel route is provided for the user to see only the destination of the travel route and select the desired travel route.

25. A method for storing a traveling route in a navigation system, comprising:

using hot keys to store travel route information, wherein each one of a plurality of travel routes has an origin node and a destination node, and wherein each stored travel route has the same origin node;

using a hot key utilized to store the travel route information to select a travel route from the plurality of travel routes with the same origin node and a different destination node;

classifying a plurality of hot keys with a group of different destination nodes together as a group of hot keys; and

wherein the method further comprises;

controlling storage of the travel route in a storage unit and providing the stored travel route for a user for

(1) determining whether or not a user inputs to the navigation an origin and a destination of a travel route for guidance of a moving object, and

(2) if it is determined that the navigation system is not in an input mode when a user inputs the origin and the destination, determining whether or not the navigation system is in a search mode wherein the user searches for a desired travel route, and

(3) if it is determined that the navigation system is in a search mode, searching and selecting a desired travel route through a user activated hot key to display a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node.

26. A method for storing a traveling route in a navigation system, comprising:

using hot keys for storing travel route information, wherein each one of a plurality of travel routes has an origin node and a destination node, and wherein each stored travel route has the same destination node;

using a hot key utilized to store the travel route information to select a travel route with the same destination node and different origin nodes; and

classifying hot keys with a group of different origin nodes together as a group of hot keys.

27. The method according to claim 26, further comprising:

reading from a memory, and displaying on a screen, a travel route stored using a hot key by using a search menu key and requesting the desired travel route by using the hot key.

28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising:

matching a travel route with a specific identifier, and selecting the travel route using the specific identifier.

29. A method for storing a traveling route in a navigation system, comprising:

using hot keys for storing travel route information as a group of travel routes, wherein each one of a plurality of travel routes has an origin node and a destination node, and wherein each stored travel route has a selected origin among different origin nodes and destination nodes;

using a hot key utilized to store travel route information to select a travel route with the selected origin and destination nodes;

classifying hot keys with the selected origin of the different origin nodes and destination nodes; and

controlling storage of the travel route in a storage unit and providing the stored travel route for a user for

(1) determining whether or not a user inputs to the navigation an origin and a destination of a travel route for guidance of a moving object,

(2) if it is determined that the navigation system is not in an input mode when a user inputs the origin and the destination, determining whether or not the navigation system is in a search mode wherein the user searches for a desired travel route, and

(3) if it is determined that the navigation system is in a search mode, searching and selecting a desired travel route through a user activated hot key to display a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

reading from a memory, and displaying on a screen, a travel route stored using a hot key by using a search menu key and requesting the desired travel route by using the hot key.

31. An apparatus for providing a travel route in a navigation system, the apparatus comprising:

a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver for receiving position data from a plurality of GPS satellites;

a storage unit for storing map data and travel route information including a plurality of travel routes therein;

a key input unit for receiving a variety of input key signals, and an origin and a destination therebetween;

a velocity and direction detection unit for detecting a travel velocity and direction of a moving object;

a wireless communication unit for communicating to receive traffic information with respect to an on-road;

a control unit for controlling storage of the travel route in the storage unit and to provide the stored travel route for a user;

a plurality of hot keys adapted to store and request a plurality of travel routes with the same destination node and different origin nodes, wherein the same hot key is adapted to store and request a specific travel route; and

a display unit for displaying the stored map data, travel route data and hot key data on a screen thereof.

32. The apparatus according to claim 31, further comprising means for classifying a specific group of travel routes as a specific group of hot keys and wherein a first group of hot keys corresponds to travel routes having the same destination node.

33. An apparatus for providing a travel route in a navigation system, the apparatus comprising:

a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver configured to receive position data from a plurality of GPS satellites;

a storage unit configured to store map data and travel route information including a plurality of travel routes therein;

a display unit configured to display the stored map data and travel route on a screen thereof;

a key input unit configured to receive a variety of input key signals, and an origin and a destination therebetween;

a velocity and direction detection unit configured to detect a travel velocity and direction of a moving object;

a wireless communication unit configured to detect to receive traffic information with respect to an on-road;

a control unit configured to control storage of the travel route in the storage unit and to provide the stored travel route for a user for (1) determining whether or not a user inputs to the navigation an origin and a destination of a travel route for guidance of a moving object and (2) if it is determined that the navigation system is not in an input mode when a user inputs the origin and the destination, determining whether or not the navigation system is in a search mode wherein the user searches for a desired travel route, and (3) if it is determined that the navigation system is in a search mode, searching and selecting a desired travel route through a user activated hot key to display a plurality of travel routes each having an origin node and a destination node;

a specific single user activated hot key configured to both (1) store a travel route having at least one of an origin node or a destination node without handling any additional hot key, and (2) request a desired travel route without using any additional hot key; and

a display unit configured to display the at least one of stored map data, travel route data or hot key data on a screen thereof.